Do It Yourself

5 Simple Steps to Setting up a Home Office

If you decide to work from home, your space management design can be a huge determinant of your productivity. Believe it or not, professionally designed office spaces are built to boost productivity through an ergonomic design that helps keep you comfortable, prevents clutter and maximizes potential. So, if you are looking to boost your productivity and minimize the clutter in your home office space, without investing a lot of money into it, here are the top DIY home office upgrade tricks to try out over a long weekend:-

If you're currently working at the kitchen table because you think you simply don’t have the space for a proper desk, think again! Building yourself a proper desk doesn’t have to cost you too much money or take too much of your time. Look for a good space in your abode where you can find peace and quiet and be able to concentrate. Build your own custom-sized table for cheap by buying local wood and hiring an apprentice carpenter to guide you on a weekend, or pick up a cheap second-hand table and make the necessary modifications.

This sleek home office can be tucked neatly behind a screen of wall paneling in the living room. A simple DIY, all it takes is building a ledge into the narrow gap between two walls and integrating two pull out drawers underneath for storage.

If you have a duplex, tuck a tiny second-hand bought computer table with storage under the staircase. Give it a fresh coat of paint, fix the wobbly cabinets, and it’ll be good as new!

Hate to hunt for a notepad to take down quick notes while you’re in the middle of ideation for a project? Convert a part of your desk into a whiteboard! A small whiteboard can be a big boon for your productivity since it is dry-erase friendly and so easy to use. It’s really simple too: buy a board in the corresponding size, and stick it on your work desk or a nearby wall.

3.Manage Your Cables

Cable organization can be a nightmare, especially in a small home office area. If the area behind your monitor is beginning to look like a jungle of wires that increases fire hazards, use these tricks to sort out those cables!

Use twisted colour-coded wires or bread clips to label all the chords, and also try a DIY cable organizer using binder clips Yu could also build a cool wooden docking station plus cable organizer with a simple corrugated design using blocks of wood stuck together.

You can also use readymade options for desktop cabling or DIY solutions like using clips etc.

Are all those routers, power bricks, modems, extension cords and power cords creating a huge mess, plus demanding counter space in your already small home office area? Hang up them! Use a peg board organizer to simply pull everything off the floor or desk, and save space by building the organizer vertically. Place it behind your desk, under the table top, so it stays out of sight for a clean, uncluttered office space!

4.Bring Your Monitor Screen to Eye Level

Image Credit: http://ergonomics.ucr.edu/tips/november2010.html

Are you constantly staring down at your laptop or PC monitor? Not only is it bad ergonomics, it also puts further stress on your eyes. Instead of buying an expensive monitor stand, just build your own with a wooden shelf and some furniture legs or doorstops --- things you can easily find at the hardware store.

Simpler options would be to get an ergonomic chair that lets you increase or reduce the height so the monitor is always at eye level.

If you're looking to hire someone to help you with your workload and are struggling with ideas to upgrade your already-tight workspace for sharing it with another, this cool idea comes to rescue. Convert your storage bookrack and old work desk into a workspace for two by cutting the table into half and installing it as a ledge on either side of the bookrack to create two workstations. You can also hang labeled wicker baskets on the side for some extra storage.

For renters, the chances are that your tiny city apartment also came with the landlord’s list of ‘Don’ts’; that make it impossible for you to drill holes or make any changes to the existing home. Here are a few simple ideas to decorate without any permanent changes.

Hate the dearth of storage space offered by your teeny-tiny bathroom? A small bathroom, especially when it is shared with other family members, can soon start to look and feel cluttered and disorganized

Do you often work from home? Create a space in your home and make this the only place you work in when you are at home. After all, your home is for you to relax and not really work! To know how to turn a part of your home into your very own 'home office' read more!